Summer of Stories 2022. We are on week 3, the story of the binding of Isaac, Abraham’s second son. In our first week, we explored sibling rivalry on the family farm in the story of Cain and Abel. We were challenged by God’s mercy and patience in the face of Cain’s jealousy and lack of… Read More »

Summer of Stories. During these warm months of 2022, we are looking at stories from the scriptures about children or with children as major characters. This task is challenging because our stories are not often clear about the age of the characters, but we are still able to identify with so much of what happens… Read More »

In this first Sunday of July, we begin our summer routine, our Summer of Stories. If you remember last year, we explored some of Jesus’ parables in the gospels. We were challenged by the layers of meaning and the different ways that each of us hears and understands these simple stories from Jesus’ ministry. This… Read More »

In the middle of May, my family and I drove out to Elkhart for a two-week seminary course in-person. It was called Biblical Storytelling, and the focus of our time together was renewing or refreshing our ears and eyes to the story that each book of our current Bible is trying to tell. Specifically, we… Read More »

I became a parent less than 3 years ago. I think that I would call myself a young parent, a young father, no matter what my actual age is. I often tell my children that one day, they will have a better dad, especially when they are upset with me. I know that I don’t… Read More »

Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed! This morning, we come to the end of our last resurrection narrative. We have journeyed with the gospel writers since Easter, wondering and puzzling over the significance and good news of Jesus’s resurrection. At the sound of our names, we hear, recognize, and worship the risen Jesus as… Read More »

Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed! On this third Sunday of Easter, we return to the empty tomb again. Two weeks ago on Easter Sunday, we read from John’s gospel as Mary Magdalene, Peter, and the beloved disciple all witnessed the empty tomb, but Mary was the first to recognize the risen Jesus when… Read More »